The highest quality No.4 Clear Grade Cedar in the UK

As one of the UK's largest importers of Western Red Cedar, Silva Timber always has stocks of sawn timber available in a number of different sizes and grades. Whether you are a bespoke joinery shop or an industrial user, Silva Timber is geared up to efficiently service your requirement.

We are confident that we have the highest quality Western Red Cedar available in the UK market. Take a close look at the photographs and videos on our website, or better still come and see it for yourself - we're sure you'll be impressed.

Please note sawn boards are intended for further processing such as machining into profiles. Silva Timber are able to machine stock into custom profiles upon request. Contact us for further information.

Square edged and rough sawn finish. Also appropriate for fencing, edging or used as boarding for sheds, barns, agricultural buildings etc depending on finish desired.

Silva Select No.4 Clear grade Western Red Cedar far exceeds the standard R-List No.4 Clear grade offered by other importers by limiting some of the defects that will not be acceptable in the finished product. This means that little or no on-site trimming will be required, saving you money on both the material and labour costs.

Occasional small knots are present on some of the boards whilst others defects are minimal and will not detract from the overall look of the project.

Being kiln dried, the raw material planes to silky smooth finish that gives a crisp high end look to any project. Unlike air dried Western Red Cedar, this product can be installed immediately without the need for on-site acclimatisation.

Silva Select No.4 Clear is a high quality product that represents excellent value formoney for those customes that want the overall look of clear Western Red Cedar cladding, but don't mind the odd knot here and there. In fact, we think the quality is so good that it would give some importers No.2 Clear a run for its money!

Orders for Silva Select No.4 Clear can be mixed with any percentage of Silva Select No.2 Clear. This gives the user the option to either mix the grades together or use the higher grade on more visible areas; either way this reduces the cost of the project and has minimal impact on the appearance.

Ordering Western Red Cedar can often prove challenging; different suppliers have differing quality standards. Here are five reasons to specify Silva Select No. 4 Clear Western Red Cedar:

1. Silva source from a primary sawmill to ensure quality and consistency.

Why? A secondary sawmill buys logs on the open market from various sources whereas our supplier holds timber harvesting rights in certain areas of British Columbia which ensures a consistent and ongoing supply of logs. Often a secondary sawmill has to make the logs they buy meet the grade whereas our supplier will only use logs that meet or exceed the respective grade. If the log is not suitable for the grade they are cutting for they will use it to produce a lower grade item elsewhere.

2. Silva Timber only buys coastal grown Western Red Cedar.

Why? When you think of Western Red Cedar you think of rich coloured, tight grained timber with a lovely scent and luxurious appearance. The coastal region of British Columbia offers a product richer in colour and tighter grained than that produced from interior Western Red Cedar, providing unrivalled beauty and maximum stability.

The Coastal region provides us with the Western Red Cedar we think of when we think Western Red Cedar.

3. Silva’s No. 4 Clear Western Red Cedar is kiln dried at source.

Why? Silva’s No. 4 Clear is kiln dried at source in state of the art kilns by experts in the drying of this unique species. Modern dry kilns allow tight control of air flow, temperature and humidity so that all the timber dries uniformly and to the precise moisture content required. Kiln-dried Western Red Cedar can be machined to a superior finish and therefore problems such as raised grain are virtually eliminated.

Why? We could offer a cheaper product but we prefer to keep our quality level high which in turn keeps our customers happy . Our product is 100% No. 4 clear and is labelled as such on the end of each board. We will only mix grades if specifically requested to do by a customer. Clear Western Red Cedar is often sold as an 80% / 20% mix of No. 2 Clear and No. 4 Clear respectively. We can supply this or any other mix of these grades in sawn boards, standard profiles or custom profiles.

5. Silva’s No. 4 Clear is PEFC certified

Silva’s Select No. 4 Clear Western Red Cedar is PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) chain of custody certified. This means that all entities in the supply chain from the harvester to Silva Timber must possess a PEFC chain of custody certificate. This means that a specific product can be followed from its certified forest source through processing and marketing channels to the end user. PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification umbrella organization supporting sustainable forest management globally through assessment and endorsement of national forest certification schemes.

Video

Watch Silva Timber demonstrate the quality of Select No.4 Clear Grade Western Red Cedar in this unpacking video. This pack has been machined into a cladding profile however it is representative of the grade found in our sawn product.

Technical

Density - 390kg/m3

Botanical name - Thuja Plicata

Moisture Content - Kiln Dried to approximately 14%

Certification - PEFC Certified

Product Links & Downloads

What to expect from timber products

When working with timber it should be expected that although ‘on-grade’, occasional boards may have minor imperfections that will require ‘working’ if you wish to eliminate. Examples include raised grain, small splits, minor handling marks, sticker marks etc – all of which can easily be remedied by trimming, gluing or sanding. In most cases imperfections can be removed with very little effort, and the small amount of off cuts generated as a result will be absorbed in the normal cutting and selection allowance.

Grading

Western Red Cedar No.4 Clear

The first thing to highlight about our ‘Silva Select No. 4 Clear’ product is that it far exceeds the grading rules set out for ‘No. 4 Clear’. Usually with this grade you should expect a certain amount of trimming and wastage; however the producer of the sawn lumber has identified a demand for a product that is less expensive than ‘No. 2 Clear & Better’ but yields less wastage than standard ‘No. 4 Clear’.

In our opinion this has been achieved with Silva Select No. 4 Clear. We call it Silva Select because it’s a cut above the standard grade and we are the only company importing this product into the UK. A number of our customers have expressed surprise at the quality, especially after reading the grade description which makes it sound far worse quality than it actually is.

Environment

This product carries Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)

The PEFC Council is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1999 which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third party certification. The PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests.

PEFC works throughout the entire forest supply chain to promote good practice in the forest and to ensure that timber and non-timber forest products are produced with respect for the highest ecological, social and ethical standards. Thanks to its eco-label, customers and consumers are able to identify products from sustainably managed forests.

Western Red Cedar is the ultimate green building material. It is legally, responsibly and sustainably harvested in the publicly managed forests of British Columbia, Canada. Less than 1% of standing timber is harvested each year.

For each tree harvested, three are replanted to ensure the forests will exist in perpetuity. Western Red Cedar has a low impact on the environment throughout its life cycle. It requires significantly less energy to produce than man-made alternatives and is bio-degradable.

Keep up to date. Subscribe using your email address for news and product updates.